Nov 28, 2019

British police defend decision not to investigate Prince Andrew

Orion Rummler

In this image, Prince Andrew stands and walks while wearing a suit. — Prince Andrew in Bangkok on Nov. 3, 2019. Photo: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images

London's Metropolitan Police says it did not have the "appropriate authority" to investigate a 2015 claim from one of Jeffrey Epstein's accusers that she had sex with Prince Andrew while allegedly trafficked by Epstein, AP reports.

Driving the news: The force concluded in 2016 that it "was the wrong agency to investigate," London's Metropolitan Police Commander Alex Murray said on Thursday. Andrew stepped away from his royal duties last week, following a BBC interview in which he defended his friendship with Epstein.

10 companies cut ties with the duke's business mentoring initiative in the wake of the interview, after which he lost public support by "not expressing sympathy for Epstein’s many young female victims," per AP.

What they're saying: Andrew has denied ever having a sexual relationship with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who says she was 17 when she first had sex with the duke in 2001.

Go deeper: What we know: The life and death of Jeffrey Epstein

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British police defend decision not to investigate Prince Andrew

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